Some on Texas coast stock up for Hurricane Harvey parties

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug 25 (Reuters) - At Paul’s Seafood Market in Corpus Christi, right in the path of Hurricane Harvey as it closed in on Texas on Friday, owner Tom Stamatakis was surprised at how busy he was.

With Harvey expected to make landfall overnight as the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in a dozen years, many residents of this beach city had left for higher ground. But others opted to ride it out, and a few even planned parties.

“It’s pretty cool man,” Stamatakis told Reuters at the market on Flour Bluff, in one of the first areas forecast to be clobbered by the hurricane. “I’ve been bagging five pound bags of shrimp all morning. I can’t keep enough ice. There’s no ice anywhere!”

Stamatakis, who said he had survived a few big storms during his 42 years in Corpus Christi, was staying put to protect his inventory in case the power went out. His stocks of shrimp, crab, crawfish, alligator, lobster, mahi mahi and tuna were worth thousands of dollars, he said.